The Poetic Genius of Owl City

It's hard to put into words what really makes me love Owl City's music so much. Perhaps it has something to do with its bouncy melodies, its innocent themes, and its simple poetry. Take his Hot Air Balloon song, for example (I've included the lyrics below for you, but in order to get the full effect of the song, you must listen to it). What a simple and lovely piece celebrating the exhilaration of imagination! He even addresses its unpredictable and spirited nature with the line "I can't wait to kiss the ground wherever we touch back down." 

Shouldn't that be how we live our lives? Enjoying the ride and the view but always excited for the moment we land and start new adventures?

Hot Air Balloon

We wrote a prelude to our own fairy tale

and bought a parachute at a church rummage sale.

And with a mean sewing machine and miles of thread,

we sewed the day above L.A. in navy and red.

We wound the racetrack through your mom’s kitchen chairs,

and fought the shadows back down your dark basement stairs,

lit a match and let it catch to light up the room,

and then you yelled as we beheld an old maroon hot air balloon.

(chorus) 

I’ll be out of my mind and you’ll be out of ideas pretty soon,

so let’s spend the afternoon in a cold hot air balloon.

Leave your jacket behind. Lean out and touch the treetops over town.

I can’t wait to kiss the ground wherever we touch back down.

We drank the Great Lakes like cold lemonade,

and both got stomach aches, sprawled out in the shade.

So bored to death you held your breath and I tried not to yawn.

You make my frown turn upside down and now my worries are gone.

(chorus)